The Swiss Water Process is an entirely chemical free process, which was handily developed in Switzerland in the 1930s. Swiss Water decaf coffee has 99.9% of the caffeine content removed, but it also retains all of the beneficial antioxidants that makes a brew good for you!
Swiss Water Processed coffee is 100% natural, and removes caffeine in four simple steps: separate, filter, soak, and dry.
1. Separate
The coffee beans are immersed in scalding water to extract the caffeine.
2. Filter
This liquid is then passed through a series of special charcoal filters designed to trap caffeine molecules and allow coffee oils and flavour molecules to pass through to and be collected. After the filtering process, a caffeine-free, flavourless, green coffee bean extract remains. This residual water is known as Green Coffee Extract (GCE), this liquid rich in coffee oils and flavour molecules is kept and used to wash a new batch of beans.
3. Soak
As a new batch of coffee beans passes through the GCE they can’t lose their oils or flavour molecules as the liquid is saturated and can’t absorb any more. At this point, the remaining extract is filtered through charcoal once again to remove the caffeine and is then set aside for future batches of decaf coffee.
The result is beans that have been decaffeinated but remain rich in flavour and coffee oils, which can then be dried and then sent to be roasted and ground.
4. Dry
The soaked raw coffee beans are then dried, after which they are roasted and ground ready to be brewed as a cup of delicious decaf coffee.
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